BenQ PD3200U 32" Ultra HD Monitor Review

Reviews
By Christian Eberle
published

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Viewing Angles, Uniformity, Response & Lag

Viewing Angles

BenQ bills the PD3200U as an IPS panel, but it actually conforms to the AHVA flavor of that technology. That improves viewing angles without compromising contrast or color accuracy. You can see in the photo that the side view shows very little change in either light output or color. Whites are a tad cooler but this is about as good as it gets for any LCD. From the top, there’s obvious light falloff but detail holds up well and color shifts slightly towards red. A monitor this large almost needs the improvement that AHVA offers. Standard IPS isn’t quite as good.

Screen Uniformity

To learn how we measure screen uniformity, please click here.

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Our PD3200U sample showed slight hotspots in the corners which skewed results but didn’t mar actual content in any significant way. We’re not concerned about quality control here given our past experiences with BenQ monitors. And we wouldn’t complain about this particular one either. It’s just not quite as uniform as other screens we’ve reviewed.

The white field result is much better and shows no visible flaws. In the color uniformity test, we see a barely perceptible green tint on the right side of the screen, near the edge. The rest of the 80% field pattern looks perfect.

Pixel Response & Input Lag

Please click here to read up on our pixel response and input lag testing procedures.

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There’s nothing quite like playing games on a jumbo monitor at Ultra HD resolution, but the PD3200U’s lack of adaptive refresh will probably keep it off some enthusiasts’ short lists. Nevertheless, its response and lag scores are pretty good among present company. Even the gaming-oriented XB321HK can’t quite keep up. It offers G-Sync but adds an extra 2ms of input lag. It’s not something mortal humans will be able to discern, but if you don’t need frame-rate-matching and you’d like to save a few hundred dollars, the BenQ can anchor a gaming system admirably.

Christian Eberle
Christian Eberle
Contributing Editor

Christian Eberle is a Contributing Editor for Tom's Hardware US. He's a veteran reviewer of A/V equipment, specializing in monitors. Christian began his obsession with tech when he built his first PC in 1991, a 286 running DOS 3.0 at a blazing 12MHz. In 2006, he undertook training from the Imaging Science Foundation in video calibration and testing and thus started a passion for precise imaging that persists to this day. He is also a professional musician with a degree from the New England Conservatory as a classical bassoonist which he used to good effect as a performer with the West Point Army Band from 1987 to 2013. He enjoys watching movies and listening to high-end audio in his custom-built home theater and can be seen riding trails near his home on a race-ready ICE VTX recumbent trike. Christian enjoys the endless summer in Florida where he lives with his wife and Chihuahua and plays with orchestras around the state.

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